Rana Begum

No.207 is a site-specific installation by Rana Begum for Bungalow 8. Begum’s intervention at the store runs parallel to her first solo exhibition in India, The Folded Page, at Jhaveri Contemporary.

Initiated during her residency in Beirut in 2009, No.207 vigorously pursues Rana Begum’s interest in the formal language of drawing and the artistic potency of line and colour. Removing domestic hardware from its utilitarian context, Rana has limited her materials to commercially available drinking straws in five standard colours (fluorescent green, yellow, pink, orange, and black). Composed entirely of glowing lines, the resulting modular superstructure explores the possibility of reducing complex elements to their vital parts. It also demonstrates the generative potential of Rana’s systematic application of the restricted vocabulary of ready-made fluorescent materials.

With No.207, Begum engages in an even more discursive relationship with the viewer. Feeding on the architecture of a chosen space, she cuts sharp lines across it, defines glowing perimeters, re-organises volumes and surfaces according to abstract cartographies. The radiant presence of the floating modules, the stressed contrast between their fragile glow and the boldness of their hues invite us to carefully re-consider our perception of and relationship to artificial spaces. (Eva Langret, 2010.)